


Scissors at the Barber

by Badgermole



Series: Colors [8]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Autism, Beanie - Freeform, Colors, Gen, Gift, haircut, shutdown, sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 06:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17503553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badgermole/pseuds/Badgermole
Summary: With a bug spreading through school, Patton stays home sick while Logan has to fill in as a teacher. So it's up to Patton to take Virgil to get his haircut.(Just read it, Nike Swoosh)





	Scissors at the Barber

Patton knew the day would be less than perfect from the moment he woke up.

Well technically, Logan woke up him after he slept through his alarm. Patton had woken up with a bit of a fever. A horrendous bug was going around his school, students and teachers alike were falling ill. Patton hadn’t seen half of his class in a couple days.

Logan removed the thermometer from Patton’s mouth and frowned. “You’re not going into work today.” Patton started to complain, but Logan shushed him.

“Due to this illness going around and a favor I owe, I have to go in to substitute one of the classes.” Logan gently brushed the hair away from Patton’s face, feeling the warmth emanate from his boyfriend’s hot head. “I have all my work sent out for the online courses already. It won’t be a problem.”

Patton sighed and closed his eyes. As much as he wanted to spend time with the kiddos, it was best if he stayed home. But now Logan was saying he wouldn’t be home either? Patton loved being around people, as an extrovert by nature he needed to be around people.

Logan placed a quick kiss on Patton’s forehead before pulling away. Patton opened his eyes and saw blurrily that Logan was already dressed for the day. Logan stood at the side of the bed fidgeting slightly.

“You’re going to do great Lo. You’re a great teacher.” Patton smiled tiredly.

“Thank you Patton.” Logan trailed off as he adjusted his tie. “If you are feeling up to it, Virgil has a haircut scheduled at noon with Valerie. Virgil will remind you. But if you cannot go, please just call the shop to cancel.”

Patton gave a sleepy hum. Logan sighed and kissed Patton’s head one more time before heading out. He quickly scribbled out a note to remind Patton of the hair appointment. He placed the post-it note on the kitchen table. He took a few steps toward the door before turning back and quickly drawing a little heart on the bottom.

 

Patton groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. The sun was up and shining directly in his face. He rolled over to snuggle into Logan but found the other side of the bed empty and cold. Patton shot upright. The quick movement brought a pounding in his head reminding him that he was sick. He vaguely recalled his conversation with Logan earlier that morning.

Patton sighed and stretched, letting the blanket fall away. Although he may not admit it to Logan, he was in fact feeling a bit better after the extra sleep.  A yawn escaped his lips which he shook off. He dragged himself out of bed and pulled on some clean clothes.

The bespectacled kindergarten teacher ran his hands quickly through his hair to get rid of the bed head before opening the door ready to start his lazy day.

“Purple? What are you doing out here?” Patton asked surprised to see the young boy standing outside of his door in this pajamas. Virgil was standing staring at his toes as he rubbed his left hand in circles on his fuzzy pajama pants. Three times clockwise, three times counterclockwise.  Virgil leaned stiffly and raised his head to look past Patton into the bed room. Virgil’s hand stilled its movement for a second and he straightened himself back out.

“Blue got called into work ‘cause everyone’s been getting sick.” Patton explained as he knelt down. “You get to hang out with me today okay?”

“Blue.” Virgil squeaked out before humming a bit.

Patton opened his arms. “Do you want a hug kiddo?”

Virgil looked up at Patton, his eyes sliding around Patton’s head like there was some sort of force field around it. He slowly shuffled around Patton’s outstretched arms and pressed his chest against Patton’s shoulder. It may not have been a traditional hug, but Patton would take it. Virgil sometimes liked having something on his chest when he got uncomfortable or overwhelmed. Logan referred to it as a pressure stim after Patton had seen Virgil with one of his stuffed animals wrapped up tightly to his chest. Whatever it was, Patton was happy and Virgil looked like he was getting there too.

 

Neither of them were happy. Virgil’s morning routine was off with Patton’s sleeping in. He had done somethings by himself but it just wasn’t the same without his dad. Patton honestly tried his best, he hadn’t had a morning alone with Virgil before, but Logan hadn’t exactly left instructions and he just couldn’t understand Virgil the way Logan seemed to.

Now they were at the barber shop, Virgil made a bee-line to the chair he always sat in and plopped down on the purple booster box attached to it. Patton smiled at the receptionist but it fell when he registered how nervous she was.

“Is Logan here?” She glanced out the window scanning for his serious man.

“He got called in to work with this bug going around.” Patton said hesitantly.

The receptionist nodded looking more nervous. “Valerie seems to have caught that as well. She’s not in today either.”

Patton’s face paled. While Virgil had been seeing Valerie since before Patton started dating Logan, Logan had explained one day about how hard it was for Virgil at the barber. The textures of the cut hair, the scissors near his head, the tightness of the bib around his neck, hairdressers trying to talk to him. It wasn’t a good time for anyone. Valerie was the first that Virgil warmed up to. There were still rough patches in the beginning but he had actually been able to sit through the appointment and had the shortest hair he had in years.

Valerie always seemed to know how to trim Virgil’s hair to the same length every single visit. Supposedly, Valerie had even gotten a color name from Virgil at some point but had been sworn to secrecy. When Patton had found out about the secret oath, Valerie and he had laughed a bit at Logan’s utter confusion of the whole situation.

But Valerie wasn’t here.

Virgil’s schedule was already in shambles. They had surprisingly gotten to the barber shop on time and Virgil was smiling softly rubbing the hard plastic of the booster seat. They couldn’t just go, but Valerie wasn’t here.

The receptionist was talking to Patton again. Patton blinked and looked to the new woman who had joined them.

“Valerie called and gave the best instructions she could. I know she’s not Valerie, but she’s a wonderful and skilled stylist.”

Patton let a shaky smile flash across his face. Oh lord, this was not a very good day.

 

Patton let out a quiet huff. He was currently draped across the couch, his arm laying over his eyes. He had thrown his glasses to the side and he faintly hoped that they had landed on the table. He could feel his fever starting to rise again but he couldn’t find the energy to get up.

Virgil had handled the new stylist reasonably well. He still ducked away sometimes when she got too close without telling him. Patton was proud.

Patton wasn’t entirely sure what happened but suddenly the stylist was muttering apologizes as Virgil squirmed and flailed his way out of the seat. Virgil curled up under the counter with his eyes squeezed shut not making a noise. Virgil had his hands pulled up and started rhythmically pressing his palms into his ears.

Patton had crouched down and sat on the floor nearby while everyone tried to go back to their own business. Eventually Virgil dropped his hands and stiffly made his way back into the hairdresser’s chair. Virgil was stiff as a board with his eyes screwed shut the rest of the visit. The stylist apologized profusely as she had to cut off nearly all of Virgil’s hair. With Virgil’s flailing, she had cut too much off on one section and needed to even out his head.

So Patton returned home with a stiff and nearly hairless Virgil. Virgil immediately went up to his room. Patton was sure if it was anyone other than Virgil, he would have heard the door slam shut.

 

Patton startled awake at the feeling of something poking his shoulder. Patton blinked rapidly and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He must have fallen asleep. A blurry figure in front of him handed him his glasses.

“Sorry Patton. Roman just barges in, you know.” Thomas nodded his head toward Roman who was currently looking around for his friend.

Patton let out a light groan as he sat up. “Sorry, did we have something planned today?” 

Thomas nodded slowly taking in the sickly appearance of the normal ball of sunshine of a man. Patton groaned again and let his head fall into his hands.

“I’m sorry. It’s been a tough day.” Patton muttered. “Logan was sent in to substitute, I’ve been sick, and Virgil… It’s been rough for him. The change in routine. His haircut…”

“Let me get you something for your fever then Roman and I can get out of your hair.” Thomas gently patted Patton’s back before heading toward the bathroom.

Patton nodded to no one.

“What happened to Purple’s hair?” Roman asked taking a glance up the stairs.

“He’s got a bad hair day. They cut it very short for him.” Patton explained. Sure they hadn’t shaved the boy’s head or anything, but Virgil used his longer hair to hide from people. He looked fine and the hair would grow back… but Patton just felt horrible about the whole situation.

Patton heard Roman gasp and could only imagine the exaggerated facial impressions coming from the dramatic boy. Thomas eventually came back with some drugs and left Patton to feel better.

 

A knock on the door pulled Patton from his dreams again. With a grunt Patton sat up and shuffled his way to the front door. Still half asleep, Patton faintly registered that it was Thomas and Roman at the door again.

“We have a gift!” Roman exclaimed before quickly adding. “For Purple!”

Patton blinked and noticed the small bit of fabric between Roman’s hands.

“He’s not having a great day today Roman. I don’t know if now is the best time…” Patton trailed off but the sadness that overtook Roman’s face immediately broke his heart.

Patton sighed and let the pair inside. “He’s up in his room.”

Roman nodded and quietly but quickly raced up the stairs.

“It’s a beanie.” Thomas explained as they watched the young prince disappear up the stairs. “Purple of course. Roman thought it might help Virgil with his hair.”

 

Knocking echoed around Virgil’s room to the tune of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman.” Virgil was laying on his stomach, his face pressed into the soft carpet and hood pulled over his prickly head. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to ignore the knocking. He just wanted to lay silently in his shorts and sweatshirt surrounded by his carpet. It took his mind off his head.

But the knocking continued, though it started to slow and loose its enthusiasm. Virgil wasn’t sure if the knocked gave up or if the song had finished, but Virgil’s room had fallen back into its comfortable silence.

“Hey, Purple…” Roman whispered hesitantly, probably the quietest he had ever spoken. “Mr. Blue said… you were having a bad day. So I got you a gift. I’d like to give it to you if that’s okay.”

Virgil could hear Roman shifting from foot to foot on the other side of the wooden door. He didn’t want to get up to see Red. After a lot of trial and error he had found the perfect position that his head wasn’t so scratchy. But Red sounded so sad. The smaller boy slowly moved his one hand to knock a few times against his bed frame, careful not to move the sweatshirt too much.

Roman threw the door open excited that Virgil let him in. Then he spotted his friend just lying face-down on the floor. Roman rocked slightly on the balls of his feet before carefully laying down next to Virgil. He rested his head on his folded arms and took a few calming breaths before turning his head to look sideways.

Virgil’s arm that had knocked on the wood had simply dropped back onto the carpet. His shoulders had slowly risen and while Roman couldn’t make out most of Virgil’s face, he could tell Virgil’s head was facing toward him.

They stayed like that for a while. The boys just lying on the floor next to each other. Virgil’s shoulders started to drop a bit, but not enough that he would be looking directly at Roman’s face.

“It’s a beanie.” Roman whispered. “Cause Mr. Blue said you have a bad hair day.”

Roman rolled away and up into a sitting position in one smooth motion. He pulled out the purple beanie and placed it next to Virgil’s shoulder. With Roman’s head gone from his sightline, Virgil finally relaxed his shoulders completely. He glanced hesitantly at the folded fabric next to him.

 

Patton shuffled back to the couch, two teas in his hands. Roman had the sweetest heart. As far as Patton knew, Virgil didn’t wear hats but Roman seemed to know Virgil well. Patton slowly reached for his phone and saw a few texts from Logan. He had to stay after school to do some work, but he shouldn’t be too late.

Patton was pulled from his messages as he heard the thumping of Roman hopping down the stairs. Roman had a huge smile across his face. Before Patton got a chance to ask how Virgil liked his gift, the younger boy appeared hiding behind his friend.

“He was just lying on the floor feeling the carpet.” Roman explained.

“But he let me in. And look!” Roman moved suddenly to the side and Patton could see the hunched form of Virgil with the dark purple beanie pulled down over his head.

Virgil moved his hands up slowly and rubbed a few circles over the beanie on his head. It was much nicer than his short prickly hair. Virgil let out a hum and a quiet “Red.” Although his head was ducked and he shuffled quickly behind Roman, Patton caught a small glimpse of a smile on the boy’s face.

Patton smiled back, at least someone in the house was feeling better.

“You look very handsome with your new beanie.” Patton cooed. Virgil nodded in agreement before pulling Roman’s sleeve and dragging the other back up the stairs.

 

The two adults let the boys play upstairs. Patton woke up a bit more and was feeling a bit better. Logan came home earlier than he had thought he would. He placed a light kiss onto Patton’s forehead, pleased that he didn’t feel as warm as he had this morning.  Logan smiled knowing that if Thomas was here, the day hadn’t gone too poorly for the playdate to be canceled.

“It was a rough day.”  Patton muttered and cuddled into Logan’s side.  Logan kissed Patton’s forehead again.

“Well it seems you both made it through quite okay.” Logan whispered.

 _Just wait until you see Virgil’s hair,_ Patton thought to himself with a sigh.


End file.
